A bit of a slog for both teams on a heavy pitch. Not a great advert for doubling up Easter fixtures. Crowd of only about 6000 who risked hypothermia to watch.

Plenty of effort from both teams ... particular credit to Salford who are largely a team of players without any great reputation. Their back moves were simple but effective and they hung in after a poor start to be in with a real chance of winning in the last quarter. They might have won if Adam Sidlow hadn't pulled off two tremendous tackles to close down breakaways.

Having heard Ian Millward on the Super League show recently suggesting that wingers should become coaches because of their position on the field and observation of things offensively and defensively,it was an interesting battle between two former wingers Cummins and Hunte.
With Salford recently playing on wet snow at St Helens and then having a day less rehab prior to this game,the Salford fans questioning the conditioning of their players may remain whingeless for at least half an hour.
I enjoyed the game even though it appeared as though it was played at Scarborough beach with the tide out.
Some good young players on display and some innovative rugby league played with some howlers thrown in for a thoroughly enjoyable 80 minutes,despite the points remaining in Yorkshire.
As the terracing behind the sticks showed no sign of snow it was slightly disappointing to find that section closed and even more upsetting was the lack of curry for sale.
Not very provident at the Provident.( There should be a smiley but it ain't working )

Firstly, I thought Bradford offered more than we did in attack. They were worth their victory.

Secondly, it looked like a daft move by Kearney to gift Gaskell the first try, but it would have been a 40/20 and he thought he had to prevent that. With hindsight, we were offering nothing in attack at that point and he would have been better off letting the ball run out. We would probably not have scored in the resultant set.

Thirdly, I'm not sure "rockets up the backside" and "running out of steam" had much to do with the dramatic change from first half to second. In the first half, we simply couldn't get any traction in the quagmire at the Coral Stand end, whereas Bradford got plenty at the much drier Rooley Lane end. This meant we got trapped in our own half for pretty much the whole first half. Change ends at half-time and guess what? Role reversal. It took Bradford ages to adapt to the mudbath, but when they did, they made more ground than we had managed in the first half. Bradford had more game-craft and pitch-craft than us and, overall, were the better team. The result was just about right.

Finally, no offence intended, but I don't think I've ever heard a more one-eyed crowd. Honestly, I expect cries of "Forward!" and "Gerrem onside!"; but every time!!! Every Salford pass was greeted with "Forward!", every Salford tackle was followed by "He's lying on!" and every play in every Bradford set was hailed with "Gerrem onside, Ref!" Seriously guys, lighten up. It was a good, even game and the better team won. What do you want, a 100 point start?

I think Tony must have missed that time when one of ours did something - was it a seemingly-high shot? - and the whole crowd groaned. And Mr. Roby ignored it...

Talk about the crowd giving the player up!

As for the forward passes, I did see a few (its easy when you are looking down on the pitch...). Including one very short one from our lot and several longer ones from Salford. I think forward passes was one of several rules that Mr. Roby deemed optional yesterday, but he kept the game flowing as a result.

One thing quite a few Bulls fans have a habit of doing, after getting frustrated at seeing what they perceive as a number of repeat infringements, is to take the p**s and shout for the infringement regardless. Especially when it is clear no infringement actually occurred! That started happening around me yesterday over forward passes. I say this to balance the "one-eyed" comment.

I think Tony is spot on about the Coral Stand-end quagmire. I don't think any of us realised just how bad it was, until it was our lot's turn to get stuck in it in the second half and they seemed unable to get out of it for ages.

Entertaining match, with good kicking and generally good passing from both sides, especially in the conditions. Salford did some very useful offloads too. I was quite impressed with Salford, and their enthusiasm and commitment was there for all to see (as was ours). I don't think Salford fans need have concerns for the future. Hopefully, neither need we.

Thanks for that summary, Adeybull. Pretty much spot on, it was an entertaining game. I didn't realise at the time that the Bulls' fans were taking pee out of Mr Roby. For my money, he let a number of "flat(?)" passes go for both teams, and only pinged anyone for the obviously forward ones. (Plus, "was it flat or was it forward?" often depends on your line of sight) As you said, he let the game flow and it was entertaining.

I was quite impressed with Salford, and their enthusiasm and commitment was there for all to see (as was ours). I don't think Salford fans need have concerns for the future. Hopefully, neither need we.

Perhaps you agree with the rumours as to who the new head coach is to be.As one Bradford fan pointed out,there were 5 officials on the pitch during the game but only one making any decisions.Seems a waste.